Stranded in South Carolina

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What We're Talking About...

This is how it sounded when our tire busted as we were on the road to Atlanta from South Carolina. The hubs looked at me and asked, “Is that our car?” I almost rolled my eyes because I knew that he knew it was our car so he didn’t really need confirmation. “Yep. That would be a flat tire.” It was Sunday at 5:15pm and we were driving through rural South Carolina. What were the chances that we would find a tire shop today.

None.

None was the answer. The hubs changed into the spare tire in 5 minutes flat. I’m blessed–I married a man that knows how to work with his hands. In my eyes, there’s nothing that he can’t fix–even if it’s with the help of YouTube University. We hopped back on the road and I called every tire shop within a 20 mile radius and got 1 answer from Sam’s Club. Apparently we talked to the wrong people because as we pulled up at exactly closing time, they informed us they couldn’t help us.

While the people at Sam’s Club tried to help us find an open tire shop, I realized it was futile. It was Sunday and all places that might have been opened where now closed. I felt bad–the hubs was supposed to have his long awaited review on Monday at work and we wouldn’t be able to make it back in time. Sure, there was work I would be missing too but not like his–I’m a writer and social media manager so if there’s internet, I can work.

Defeated, we hopped back in the car and searched for local hotels. All I can say is that I’m so happy that this didn’t happen in April when we were broker than some jokers. We aren’t balling out of control but we could afford a modestly priced overnight hotel stay. We called one hotel and tried not to act surprised over the phone. Calling around wasn’t going to work for us so we did the next best thing–www.tripadvisor.com.

TripAdvisor.com

I didn’t really want to book a hotel through one of the websites that you have to sign up for. I was on a phone and didn’t have the patience for all that. But TripAdvisor.com really made it easy. I searched the are we were in, sorted by price and checked out the ratings. We decided on The Sleep Inn and booked with ease through Booking.com. It took maybe 5min in total, which was a relief and we weren’t breaking bank to get a last minute room.

Sleep Inn Saved My Sanity

I’m not going to lie, I was slightly frazzled when the tire situation happened and not because I thought our safety was jeopardized. In fact, it wasn’t until I talked to my mom that I realized that we could have been seriously injured. Now, I wouldn’t say I’m a control freak but I will say that I like to have a plan and being stranded in South Carolina was NOT in the plan. But Sleep Inn was a good price, rated well, and when we checked in, it was easy to see that the ratings didn’t lie.

Check in was easy and took 2 minutes literally. The woman who checked us in pronounced my name correctly and gave us directions on how to get to our room fastest. We got there and I was more than pleasantly surprised by our room. It had a nice, king-size bed with a flat screen TV that had cable. The WiFi was free and worked really well due to the signal boosters placed throughout the hallways. Our shower was pretty awesome and was huge.

Instead of being frazzled and worried, I was able to relax and really enjoy the first night being child-free for a bit with my husband. There was no shrieks of “mommy”, no fighting, no mess. There was only peace, quiet, and the love of my life. We ate in and enjoyed watching Game of Thrones in real time. We slept moderately late and then had a hot breakfast. This was one of the defining factors for me in choosing where we would stay–breakfast. Since I knew I wouldn’t be starting my DTOX program today, I knew I wanted something free and moderately delicious. I was able to make some banana waffles and have a yogurt along with some juice and coffee. Works for me!